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Emirati authorities shared passenger and crew details, including nationalities, with Israel before an Omani co-pilot tried to seize control of an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight on Wednesday, officials said Sunday, as questions mount over how he evaded detection.
TEL AVIV, Israel - Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shared with Israel a list of passengers and crew ahead of the FlyDubai flight on which a pilot attempted to seize control of the Israel-bound aircraft and crash it, regional officials said Sunday, raising new questions over how the attacker evaded detection.
The incident occurred Wednesday during a flight that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The UAE, which is leading the investigation, said the co-pilot attacked the flight's captain with the cockpit's crash ax and tried to take control of the plummeting plane in a terrorist attack. His actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board before the Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and others to rush in and subdue the attacker.
The captain was identified as Smit Machchhar of India, and Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited him at a hospital in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Passengers on the flight arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Among them was Yaniv Hayoun, who had blood stains on his shirt as he was welcomed at the arrivals gate.
Omani Pilot Vetting Questions
Officials already have said the Omani co-pilot had been barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views. It also remains unclear how a citizen of Oman, an Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv. The regional officials said Emirati authorities had shared information about the passengers and crew, including their nationalities.
Israel had not raised red flags on any passenger or member of the crew, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters about the probe. The passengers who halted the attack and helped regain control of the aircraft have been hailed as heroes in Israel. But officials have begun to raise difficult questions and trade accusations about the security blunders that could have led to a major disaster.
Security Agency Responsibilities
The Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency, said the Transportation Ministry is responsible for vetting passenger lists from foreign flights. Transportation Minister Miri Regev told Israel's public broadcaster Kan that the security agencies are responsible for flight security and that her ministry was not given a list of passengers or any warnings.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has long-standing agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from flying into the country if they are citizens of nations that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. It also remains unclear how FlyDubai, a low-cost Emirati airline that operates flights between Israel and the UAE, had failed to identify the Omani pilot as a security risk.
Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University in England who wrote a book about aircraft hijackings and bombings, said background check systems differ from country to country and there are limits on what types of information can be shared. In terms of aviation security itself, obviously we want to have as robust background checks as possible. But there are huge limitations on doing background checks in any case, especially in cross-border checks, he said.
Security Lapses Investigation
While the investigation continues, preliminary details about the incident have highlighted several major security lapses. The passengers who intervened have been praised, but the focus has shifted to how the attacker was able to board and attempt to take control of the aircraft. The flight carried 182 people, and the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia allowed all aboard to survive the ordeal. The passengers later returned to Israel, where they were greeted as heroes.
Both Israeli and Emirati authorities continue to investigate the attack, which has raised concerns about aviation security coordination between countries that do not have formal diplomatic ties. The UAE has taken the lead in the probe, sharing information with Israel as part of the ongoing investigation. Melanie Lidman and Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
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CP24:UAE had shared details about FlyDubai flight with Israel, including pilots' names and nationalitiesThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Flydubai Flight Attack UAE Israel Security Sharing Omani Co-Pilot Aviation Security Lapses Ben Gurion Airport
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